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June 26, 2011

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With congressional leaders and the White House facing a looming deadline on whether to raise the debt limit, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says raising tax revenues won’t get the talks to the finish line.
“Well, I think we've gotten to the point where we ought to put aside our talking points and get down to what can actually pass. As I was just trying to point out to you, the whole business of raising taxes, regardless of how you go about it, is something that this Congress is not likely to do. The last Congress wasn't willing to do it. So we need to talk about what can pass,” McConnell said on ABC’s “This Week.”
McConnell urged both sides to focus on cutting discretionary spending, saying that: “We have a spending problem. We don't have a problem because we tax too little.”
With Democrats and Republicans facing an early August deadline for cutting a deal, two top Republicans – House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl – last week walked out on talks that were being spearheaded by Vice President Joe Biden.
McConnell is slated to sit down with Obama on Monday at the White House.
“Well, we'd like to wrap this up. One of the reasons we are meeting tomorrow is that I think both the Democrats and the Republicans would like to come together and finish this negotiation and finish it sometime soon. It need not necessarily go to the 11th hour,” McConnell said.

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June 26, 2011

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Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann says she wouldn’t vote to raise the debt limit – and is dismissing concerns that the nation would default on its loans as “scare tactics.”

Appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, the GOP presidential candidate cited federal spending as a top concern and said she believed the country would still have the revenues to meet its debts and obligations.

“It would be very tough love,” she said of a “no” vote.

But, she added: “I’ve been in Washington for a long time, and I’ve seen smoke and mirrors time and time again.”

June 26, 2011

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"I am not a fan of same-sex marriage," Christie said in an interview aired Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "It's not something that I support."

The state of New York last week passed a measure legalizing gay marriage. New Jersey has a policy that pre-dates Christie, recognizing civil unions. A previous effort to pass gay marriage in the state failed.

"I believe marriage should be between one man and one woman," Christie said. "That's my view. And-- and that'll be the view of our state because I wouldn't sign a bill that-- like the one that was in New York."

Christie, who disappointed some in his party by ruling out a run for president in 2012, on Sunday said he's really not vice president material, either.

"Can you imagine?" the outspoken governor said. "I mean the-- the person who picks me as vice president would have to be sedated."

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June 26, 2011

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There are lots of things the government can do to hold off a catastrophic debt default, Republican Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina said Sunday.

"We won't default," DeMint vowed on CNN's "State of the Union."

DeMint is warning his fellow Republicans that there will be political consequences for capitulating on what he called an urgent need to balance the federal budget by cutting spending. He said President Barack Obama could suffer, as well.

"If the president decides some time in October or November that he is not going to pay our bills because he refuses to balance the budget six or eight years out, then I think Americans ought to know that," DeMint said.

The senator said the federal budget issues must be resolved without resorting to tax hikes. Instead, he suggested, policymakers should consider entitlement cuts and clearing out onerous regulations, among other things.

"I was on an oil rig in the Gulf this weekend, it cost over $600 million," DeMint said. "It's been sitting there for months waiting for a permit. Thousands of jobs are on hold, but we don't do the things that create the jobs that create the revenue."

"The problem is this administration seems to be doing everything it can to make it harder and more expensive to hire people," DeMint said.

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June 26, 2011

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Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann is accusing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney of having an inconsistent record on abortion rights.

Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Bachmann said she was “disappointed” that Romney had yet to sign a pro-life pledge that the conservative group Susan B. Anthony List had asked 2012 contenders to sign.
“Gov. Romney has a history of changing his position” on abortion, she said.

Asked what Romney’s position on abortion was, Bachmann responded: “It’s up to Mitt Romney to say what he is.”

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June 26, 2011

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House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that debt ceiling talks were derailed in part by Republican leeriness over ending special interest tax deals.

The California congresswoman had particular scorn for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who last week pulled out of talks amid a flap with Democrats over taxes.

"Leader Cantor can't handle the truth when it comes to these tax subsidies for big oil, for corporations sending jobs overseas, for giving tax breaks to the wealthiest people in our country while they're asking seniors to pay more for less, as they abolish Medicare," Pelosi said on CNN's "State of the Union."

President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) this week are stepping into the debt ceiling morass with a series of high-level meetings aimed at working out a deal before an Aug. 2 deadline.

Pelosi said Republican determination to fix the deficit with tax cuts is a non-starter. "In the Bush years the Republicans said that tax cuts will produce jobs," she said. "They didn't. They produced a deficit."

“I am very serious about what I want to do,” Bachmann said on “Fox News Sunday,” adding that voters were impressed with her recent New Hampshire debate appearance. “People recognize that I’m serious.”

But host Chris Wallace pushed Bachmann on her history of making controversial statements and asked whether she was ready to be a national candidate.

“Are you a flake?” Wallace asked

“That would be insulting to say something like that,” responded Bachmann, pointing to her legislative and professional record. “Of course, a person has to be careful with what their words are. And now I will have an opportunity to speak fully.”

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June 26, 2011

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Are presidential politics factoring into the Afghanistan withdrawal plan? Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan Sunday said the timing is suspect.

"It's too soon," Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said on CNN's "State of the Union." "I supported the president on the surge, which was not necessarily all that politically comfortable."

But the plan President Barack Obama announced last week to withdraw 33,000 troops from Afghanistan before Sept. 2012 makes Rogers even less comfortable, he said.

"If we leave Afghanistan with a safe haven, we have done nothing," Rogers said. "The time line is just too darn close. I am a former FBI guy and coincidences are one thing. But the fact that it lines up to have those troops out before the first debate of 2012 is concerning to me. Mainly because conditions on ground have not changed."

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June 26, 2011

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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says where he sends his kids to school is nobody's business and defended tangling with a constituent challenging his plan to cut public school funding.

"You know what? I am very blunt, I am very direct," the Republican governor said in an interview aired Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Christie made headlines recently when he told a constituent "it's none of your business" when she asked at a forum whether he thought it was fair to send his kids to private school while cutting public education funding.

"I don't ask you where you send your kids to school," Christie said at the time. "Don't bother me about where I send mine."

On NBC, Christie was unrepentant, saying his style is authentic and his parenting decisions are his own.

"I'm huggable and lovable," Christie said. "I am not abrasive at all. I-- listen, I'm honest. And I wish we had more of it in politics. You know what people are tired of in politics? They're tired of blow-dried-- tested answers that are given by political consultants to politicians and everybody sounds the same."